Phoenix Financial Ltd. Increases Stake in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT)

Key Points

• Phoenix Financial Ltd. increased its holdings in EQT Corporation by 13.3%, now owning 66,970 shares valued at approximately $3.58 million.
• In the fourth quarter, multiple institutional investors significantly increased their positions in EQT, with notable increases from Invesco Ltd. (46.3%) and Castle Hook Partners LP (199.5%).
• EQT Corporation's most recent earnings report showed earnings per share of $0.45, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1575.

Phoenix Financial Ltd. raised its stake in shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) by 13.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,970 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 7,853 shares during the quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s holdings in EQT were worth $3,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in EQT by 40.3% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 57,673 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $3,081,000 after purchasing an additional 16,562 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of EQT by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 100,429 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $5,366,000 after buying an additional 5,234 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of EQT by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 10,389 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Montgomery Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of EQT during the 1st quarter valued at $641,000. Finally, Journey Strategic Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of EQT by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 5,916 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EQT. Wall Street Zen cut shares of EQT from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of EQT from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Mizuho upgraded shares of EQT to an "outperform" rating and set a $66.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Scotiabank restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $66.00 target price (up previously from $62.00) on shares of EQT in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price target (up previously from $60.00) on shares of EQT in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.84.

Insider Transactions at EQT

In related news, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.94, for a total value of $646,029.72. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 13,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $690,646.18. This represents a 48.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

EQT Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQT traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $53.63. 2,736,910 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,491,903. EQT Corporation has a 1 year low of $30.02 and a 1 year high of $61.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $56.25 and a 200 day moving average of $53.15.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.78 billion. EQT had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 6.24%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that EQT Corporation will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be issued a $0.1575 dividend. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 6th. EQT's dividend payout ratio is 34.05%.

About EQT

EQT Corporation operates as a natural gas production company in the United States. The company sells natural gas and natural gas liquids to marketers, utilities, and industrial customers through pipelines located in the Appalachian Basin. It also offers marketing services and contractual pipeline capacity management services.